Families meet along 0 Avenue to connect across the border

Families feel impact of border restrictions The extension of travel restrictions along the U.S.-Canada border means at least another 30 days of separation for some B.C. families.

Aldergrove, B.C. — There’s a place along the B.C. and Washington state border that’s really just a ditch between the two countries. This stretch of road is quickly becoming a destination for families to gather, visit and feel connected.

It’s here where Bill and Kathy Ward met their 9-day-old granddaughter Willow for the very first time.

“It’s really sad. I just want to hold her and I can’t,” said Kathy Ward looking across the ditch that marks the border. “Babies, they change so much in that first little bit.”

Jodi Pears, her daughter, lives in Lynden with her husband and their other two granddaughters, ages three and four.

“We’ve had our parents for the births of both of our children,” said Pears. "Not having them there for Willow, it’s been sad.”

Steps from this reunion, another one was taking place. Rosa Rezansoff and her husband Tice Siron meet along 0 Avenue regularly for a picnic and dog walk.

"It’s more than some other people are getting and I’m very thankful for it," said Rezansoff. "But it also kind of breaks my heart that he’s so close and I can’t, like he gets out of the car and my heart kind of breaks a little because I can’t just run up and give him a hug.”

They got married two years ago and were set for an immigration interview March 16 in Montreal. But it never happened.

"It was literally on the cusp and then sadly not," she said.

At that point the COVID-19 pandemic was getting worse, self-isolation and lockdowns were beginning and the pair had been in Idaho visiting Siron’s parents 12 days before.

"So now they sent an email saying we’re going to get rescheduled but they just don’t know when," said Siron.

Rules restricting all non-essential travel for 30 days came into place March 21. On Saturday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced an extension.

"The agreement is the same terms, just extended for another 30 days," he said in his daily briefing outside Rideau Cottage. "It will ensure that we continue to get essential goods and services back and forth across this border."

"I knew that they were going to extend it," said Siron. "There was no way that they could have opened up now."

But it means the wait continues for him to be reunited with his wife. And the Wards will have to wait longer to hold little Willow in their arms.

"I understand it but it’s just very hard," said Ward.

Pears said she and her husband have been working really hard to keep the family safe and healthy. Leading up to Willow’s birth, she told CTV News they’d “just kind of hunkered down.” Once the border reopens, she’s not sure how soon she’ll be able to connect with her parents.

“It’s all just going to depend on how the situation is,” she said, “It’s hard to keep the kids separate from them so I’m not sure.”